‘The burning’: CMS bus driver terrified after bleach attack

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg school bus driver who had bleach thrown on her spoke with Channel 9 about the attack that left her with chemical burns on her face.

The 72-year-old woman did not want to be identified because of safety concerns.

“I am concerned for my safety,” the woman said. “I truly am, just like a lot of the parents are.”

Reporter Jonathan Lowe spoke with the woman who said the incident that happened on Oct. 18 scarred her and the students who ride bus 1701.

“She just ran up to the bus in her bath robe, and the last kid was getting on the bus, and that’s when she threw the Clorox,” the victim said.

The bus driver was picking up students when police said she had a dangerous encounter with 30-year-old Regina Fields.

“I don’t think any got on the last kid that was getting on,” the bus driver said.

She is recovering nearly two weeks later.

“My face,” she said. “My eyes. I have constant drops in my eyes. The burning. My face.”

Since then, the woman has returned to driving buses despite her fear.

“I got to work,” she said. “I have no one to take care of me, so I’ve got to work and I’m prayed up. God’s taking care of me.”

She has been driving a school bus for only two years.

“It’s so many parents that need this bus to transport their children, a.m. or p.m.,” the woman said. “And it’s really hard for them.”

The woman said that she fell in love with driving students to and from school, but the bleach incident terrified them.

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“They’re walking,” she said. “A lot of them are walking in the morning, and a lot of them are walking in the afternoon.”

CMS officials said they had noticed a disturbing trend this school year.

“We have seen uptick in parents that have approached the driver, and in most cases, it’s to confront another student,” said Adam Johnson, the executive director of Transportation with CMS.

Fields was charged with voluntary assault on a school employee.

In July 2021, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff Office website showed that she was charged in another case with misdemeanor child abuse and trafficking cocaine.

(WATCH BELOW: Woman arrested after allegedly throwing bleach at CMS bus driver, police say)

Woman arrested after allegedly throwing bleach at CMS bus driver, police say

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